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Getting AF to return while BFing

Hi All

I have a 14 month old. She is breastfeeding about 5x/day right now.
Up until about 2 weeks ago she was feeding about 7x/d.
I know that decreasing BFing is the best chance for encouraging the return of AF, so I am trying that.

I am hoping to get AF to return, as we would like our children to be a couple of years apart, and therefore we are hoping to get pregnant soon.

I found it convenient to decrease her nursing sessions a couple of weeks ago because I was away from home for a few days and my supply did decrease even though I was pumping. My LO doesn't seem to mind that she is feeding less often - she is busy with food, her sippy cup and playing with her toys

I haven't seen any change in cervical mucous over the past couple of weeks even though she has been nursing less, so I am assuming I have not ovulated and therefore am not expecting AF to be showing up any time soon.

I am really hoping to avoid weaning completely.

Just hoping someone has some advice on ways to get AF to return, or at least can tell me when I might be able to expect AF to come back on its own.

Also, if I cut out another feeding I feel that either her second night feed or her lunch feed are my best options. I am leaning toward the night feed, which would keep all of her remaining feedings about 6 hours apart. Thoughts??

Re: Getting AF to return while BFing

There's no way to predict when your fertility will return. That is as individual as you are. But the AVERAGE nursing mom sees her fertility return at around 15-16 months postpartum, which usually coincides with her baby eating more solids and sleeping longer at night. Of course, that average encompasses a very wide range of variation- there are nursing moms who see their fertility return within a few weeks or months of birth, and also a few who don't get it back until their babies are totally weaned.

I personally would drop the nighttime feeding; more sleep for you, equally good chance that it will induce your fertility to return.